(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of quantitatively detecting bitter or odorous substances and an apparatus therefor.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
No method of directly detecting bitter or odorous substances has been proposed so far, but the bitter or odorous substances have been sensed by gustatory cells in humans.
A method of detecting odorous substances by gas chromatography is known, but tends to result in a chromatograph with so many peaks that it is difficult to analyze them. Reactive sensors have been practically used for special malodorants among odorous substances such as detection of alcohol by use of metal oxide and detection of propane gas by reaction with --SH group. However, no method of directly and quantitatively detecting a large number of odorous substances including the above malodorants is known. One thousand or more bitter and odorous substances exist, and it is highly desirable to develop any method of selectively detecting them.
In "Science, 54, No. 11, pages 669-678 (1984), Kenzo Kurihara", for example, a mechanism has been proposed, in which bitter substances are adsorbed onto the lipid bilayer moiety of the micro-villi membrane (hereinafter referred to as the taste receptor membrane) consisting of the lipid bilayer and various kinds of proteins in taste cells with the result that a cell potential of the taste cell is depolarized to release transfer substances and that the transfer substance acts on the taste nerve end to generate impulse for sensing bitter substances. On the other hand, a mechanism has been proposed, in which odorous substances are adsorbed onto the lipid bilayer moiety of the olfactory receptor membrane composed of the lipid bilayer and various kinds of proteins in olfactory cells with the result that depolarization takes place and impulse is generated from the olfactory nerve to sense odorous substances.